"Stupid Girl" is a song by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Cold Cold is the presence of low temperature, especially in the atmosphere. In common usage, cold is often a subjective perception. A lower bound to temperature is absolute zero, defined as 0.00K on the Kelvin scale, an absolute thermodynamic ...

and the

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

from their third major label album, '' Year of the Spider''. It was the second song released for the album overall; "Gone Away" was released on the '' WWE Tough Enough 2'' soundtrack while recognized as a ''Year of the Spider'' track a year prior to its release. "Stupid Girl" made its radio debut on March 18, 2003, and was the only Cold single to crack the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 staying on for 20 weeks and peaking at No. 87. The song, as well as its

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

, were heavily played on MTV2 and

Fuse TV Fuse is an American pay television channel launched in 1994 which was originally dedicated to music. After merging with the Latino-oriented NuvoTV in 2015, Fuse shifted its focus to general entertainment and lifestyle programming targeting multi ...

throughout the several months following its release. The single was also included on the 2003 heavy metal compilation, '' MTV2 Headbangers Ball''.

Overview

"Stupid Girl" marks a shift in Cold's style into a substantially more commercial direction. Frontman

Scooter Ward Scooter Ward (born Ronald Ward Jr. on May 7, 1970) is an American musician who is best known as a founding member and lead singer of the rock band Cold. He has also performed occasional guitar duties both in the studio and live. Ward has been r ...

began working on the song in 2002 and, although he liked the

guitar riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accompanime ...

, considered it too reminiscent of

Weezer Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Scott Shriner (bass guitar, keyboards, backing ...

, a band that Cold had toured with earlier and befriended. Ward subsequently asked Weezer frontman

Rivers Cuomo Rivers Cuomo ( ; born June 13, 1970) is an American musician. He is the lead vocalist, guitarist, pianist, and songwriter of the rock band Weezer. Cuomo was raised in a number of Buddhist communities in the Northeast U.S. until the age of 10, wh ...

to lend a hand in the song's development for their first and only collaboration. The verse lyrics and opening/ chorus guitar riff were then written by Cuomo. Originally the two singers planned to trade off vocals, but after Cuomo heard Ward's tracks, he decided to limit his own vocal contribution to the pre-chorus. The song blatantly revolves around relationship troubles with bits of

tongue-in-cheek The idiom tongue-in-cheek refers to a humorous or sarcastic statement expressed in a serious manner. History The phrase originally expressed contempt, but by 1842 had acquired its modern meaning. Early users of the phrase include Sir Walter Scot ...

phrasing commonly found in Cuomo's writing style. The song begins with an

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

intro followed by an increasingly louder snare beat. This carries into a verse emphasizing vocals of disdain over the subtle guitar and drum beat. The song's

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

halts the established melody for a solo, acoustic

chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice ...

. An anthemic vocal harmony then ensues before returning to the chorus. An acoustic version of the song was performed on ''

Sessions@AOL AOL (stylized as Aol., formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City. It is a brand marketed by the current incarnation of Yahoo! Inc. ...

'' which aired on Fuse TV in 2003. The CD single of "Stupid Girl" also includes a remix by

Chris Vrenna Chris Vrenna (born February 23, 1967 in Erie, Pennsylvania) is an American musician, producer, engineer, remixer, songwriter, programmer, and founder of the electronic band Tweaker. Vrenna played drums for the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails ...

who hired a string arranger and used a complete string section as a basis for the mix.

Music video

The "Stupid Girl"

video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syst ...

was directed by Marc Webb, who previously worked with Cold on "Just Got Wicked", on February 22, 2003, in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

. The band drafted fans for the video to meet at the Bancroft schoolyard in south Minneapolis.MTV News staf
"For The Record: Quick News On Nick Carter, John Mayer, Trina, Dee Dee Ramone, Cold, Pete Yorn & More"
MTV.com (February 20, 2003). Retrieved on June 11, 2008. "Stupid Girl" has the band performing on a small outdoor stage in the cold February weather. Fans are shown tearing up signs with the names of their apparent former

significant other The term significant other (SO) has different uses in psychology and in colloquial language. Colloquially, "significant other" is used as a gender-neutral term for a person's partner in an intimate relationship without disclosing or presuming ...

s. The song is generally recognized simply as a Cold song and Rivers Cuomo, who contributed to its development, does not appear in the video. The band initially wanted shots of them performing on a frozen lake filled with fans, but with Geffen worrying about the potential for injury, the band opted for the schoolyard instead.

Track listing

Charts

References

External links

"Stupid Girl" Music Video
* Allmusic database entry {{DEFAULTSORT:Stupid Girl (Cold Song) 2003 singles Torch songs Songs written by Rivers Cuomo Cold (band) songs Songs written by Terry Balsamo Song recordings produced by Howard Benson